


Getting the Story Straight

by BloodstainedBlonde



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Drug Use, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, vague make out scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-14
Updated: 2014-01-14
Packaged: 2018-01-08 17:21:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1135373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodstainedBlonde/pseuds/BloodstainedBlonde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cocaine, ecstasy, weed.</p><p>The three times Gavin and Ray got higher than the empire state.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting the Story Straight

**Author's Note:**

> so this is what I've done the past two days, tell me what you think
> 
> read & review, yo

Long before Gavin Free had ever tried marijuana, long before he’d ever stumbled into his friend’s apartment and smoked his first bowl with Ray, Gavin had tried cocaine.

He’d ended up with (who else?) Ray himself- because the Puerto Rican seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to anything to do with drugs- in a park in the middle of the night, with no idea as to where they were or what they were doing, just off their mind on coke and enjoying the bliss of their high.

Surprisingly, it was the first drug (outside of alcohol and the occasional cigarette of course) that he ever had, and it had come with next to no longstanding negative repercussions to speak of. Sure, he’d had a killer headache and felt kind of moody the next day, and the comedown had been a bit of a bitch, but the night he’d experienced had (in his humble opinion) been well worth it.

He could admit it might have been luck that nothing bad had happened, either to him or Ray, and that they’d (as far as he knew) felt no need to actively seek it out afterwards. To him, cocaine had been a few and far between experience that he’d permit himself to enjoy again, but only in reasonable amounts.

To Ray, well, Gavin didn’t really know.

 

But since that night, he’d never encountered it again, and he was okay with that: because that night had been perpetualised in his memory, and he could remember every single thing about it.

* * *

 

‘Hey, asshole!’ Michael had called to him, barely managing to keep his balance as he approached from across the dance floor. ‘Where the fuck’s the bathroom? Michael, and by Michael I mean me, is very confused, and I don’t even know why I’m asking you because you’re a fucking idiot.’

‘Aw, Michael, I know where the bathroom is!’ Gavin started, lost-puppy-needing-love sense kicking in.

But Michael ignored him, spinning off to find the bathroom of his own accord, and Gavin couldn’t help the pout that came across his face. The desire to please someone he could be affectionate toward was becoming overwhelming with the tingle of alcohol spreading throughout his body.

He was flushed, tipsy enough to call it drunk but he'd never admit that, and now he'd got the briefest, briefest taste of  _Michael_ and  _attention_ and he found himself keening for more. Naturally. So he turned away, determined to find the bathroom so he could show Michael and maybe get the Jersey boy to give him a little bit of love.

He didn’t get very far; stumbling through the crowd until he saw a break took a lot out of him, and by the time he pushed the door open and stepped through it took him a moment too long to realise his mistake.

‘Whoops! Sorry, lads,’ he said, blinking drunkenly at the small circle in front of him. One of the guys leered but the rest seemed friendly enough, smiling at him as they confirmed he wasn’t a threat. They turned away a moment later but Gavin, the curious idiot he is, took a step forward and spoke again.

‘Wosgoin’ on ‘ere?’ he said, his attention focused more on the scene ahead of him rather than his need to remain intelligible.

Two of the guys turned back, and Gavin got a good look at what was going on indeed. ‘Oh! You guys havin’ a little pass'round, eh?’

The one in the middle gave him a once over, smiled. ‘Sure are,' he said, perky enough. It took Gavin a second to spot the baggie of white powder in his hand, and another to make the connection as to what it was.

‘Lil bit of _c_ -to-the- _ocaine_ , eh?’

No answer, but he stepped into the circle without hesitation. The men accepted him almost instantly, shoving each other aside to make space as they set out on the table.

‘Why? You got a bit of experience, mate?’ One of them asked, Australian accent shining through.

‘Nah,’ Gavin waved it off. ‘But always up for something new, aye lads?’

Surprisingly, the remaining men laughed. A dark skinned man stepped forward, library card in hand. ‘Alright, why not? Induction ceremony for one mister…’

‘Gavino-Free,’ Gavin said, stepping up to the table and eyeing the white powder curiously.

There were some snickers, but most of the attention was no longer on him. He blended in far too well, reeking of alcohol and money, his nice watch glinting in the flashing lights of the club's back room and his alcohol bottle still clutched, forgotten about, in one hand.

And he felt it. His seamless acceptance meant that no second guesses rose to the forefront of his mind, and he was free to accept the proposition without a single thought spared to the consequences. He was drunk, and what acceptance he'd yearned for from Michael was quickly being filled by the atmosphere around the table.

So he kneeled down in front of the table, ignored a lewd laugh from one of the older men, and put his nose right up close to the lined powder. After several seconds of mental preparation he hadn't expected himself to need, he leaned in, steeled himself, and snorted hard. 

Instantly, he found himself reeling back, his eyes watering and tingling like crazy. As soon as he realised he'd pulled back, he forced himself to lean forward, pushing all coherent thought out of his mind as he lined himself up again and snorted the rest of the line.

Once it was gone, he allowed himself to groan, prodding at the side of his nose imploringly. ‘Ahh, my snoz. The whole right side of my snoz is numb--’

Laughter ensued around the table and he dimly felt someone clap him on the back, but his senses were fading fast, and for a moment he feared he was dying. He felt like a beach before a tsunami, all the water being sucked out just as his senses were, and he was left with a terrifying feeling of floating, empty  _nothing._

Then the tsunami struck and he was in the middle of the blizzard that was cocaine and he felt  _everything._

It was like the world around him had changed, but nothing concrete, nothing that he could hold on to. When he focused, forced his tingling senses to pinpoint, it was with a strange hyper-awareness that overcame his entire body and left him in a sense of limbo, between reality and a bright, blurry world of colour. 

His attention slipped, and suddenly he could see every detail, feel every inch of his being like he never had before and he’d be damned if he’d ever felt so alive.

His gasp of wonder didn’t go unheard, and one of the men around him -- the lovely, lovely men around him, and in that moment Gavin felt like their bond was unbreakable, these strangers he didn't know and never would -- leaned into his line of sight. Gavin realised, his brain scrambling to keep up with the events, that he was analysing him. As soon as he'd made that connection, laughter broke out around him, loud guffaws that filled Gavin’s head and made him join in even though he had absolutely no idea what was so funny.

‘Pretty boy is pretty lit,' one of them said crudely, but if Gavin was meant to worry about that he didn't.

There was no room for bad emotions inside him, if there was room for anything at all -- he felt full to the brim,  _overwhelmed,_ _and what a word that was._

He felt fingers around his chin, pulling his head back to expose his dilated pupils to the group. Laughter was exchanged and Gavin grinned madly, phantom pressure remaining on his jaw long after the cold fingers had released him.

He felt incredible. Energy coursed through him, spreading light and speed through the blood that he could feel pumping through his veins and god, this must be what it feels like to fly.

‘Want another line, mate?’ one of them offered, and Gavin tilted his head to gaze at him. ‘But after this you gotta start paying, sixty a gram and thirty five a half.’

Gavin took a moment to consider before grinning again and eyeing the coke on the table cockily. ‘I could take it down,’ he said, and then he was laughing, because someone was clapping him on the back and the sensation was running through his body from head to toe.

Then the line was in front of him, and he was leant over it, fingers pressing his left nostril shut and Ray's voice in his head, calling his name--

Except now he could feel it in his ears, and Ray was next to him. His head shot up in an instant, the energy pulsing through him making his movements jerky and erratic, faster than he was capable of.

And Ray took one look at his blown pupils and knew. The glance at the coke covered table behind him only confirmed it, but even if it hadn't been there, Gavin was proof enough. He was buzzing on the spot, glancing between Ray and the coke, Ray and the coke, Ray and the coke--

‘Gavin, Jesus, what are you doing?’ Ray asked him, and there were hands on his shoulders, digging in, pulling him away.

Gavin wanted to tell him he hadn't done the second line of coke yet, hadn't gotten more of it into his system when the last thing he wanted was for this feeling to stop, but there was some issues in his mind somewhere where something refused to connect and give him control of his voice.

He got lost in that, and moments later, was brought back by Ray once more. His name echoed around his head, straight from Ray's lips, and the feeling of cold hands on his cheeks grounded him abruptly.

'Ray,' he finally said, the name escaping from within him, and delight curled around it so much that Ray was taken aback. Before he could formulate a response, Gavin was moving again, jittering up and down on the spot as his eyes darted around the room behind him and centred on the table Ray had just pulled him away from.

'Get lit with me,' he said in a rush, and didn't stop for an answer. 'I’m on top of the world, Ray, bloody _invincible_ , and you need, you need this, Ray. You need this with me. You don’t know how incredible it feels.’ Ray just raised an eyebrow at him, saying nothing, but Gavin wasn’t done. ‘Or maybe you do. So come on.''

Ray was looking between the door and Gavin almost comically, buying time. 'Jesus,' he managed, his voice soft and so smooth Gavin wanted to bury himself in it. 'I just came out here expecting to see you getting wailed on. I mean, I watched you come through here, and I thought you’d get a few hits and get your ass kicked back out but fuck  _me_ you’re high on coke and all buddy buddy with a bunch of cokeheads.’

He shook his head, disbelieving, but Gavin's hands on his shoulders nearly made him jump. Gavin had tried his best to still himself in an attempt to convey how serious he was, and for the most part succeeded, the only thing betraying the energy coursing endlessly through his body was how tight his grip on Ray's shoulders was, how his fingers twitched and dug in occasionally, and the way he reared on the balls of his feet and his eyes kept darting everywhere, needing to take everything in at once, the cocaine in his system making him itch to touch, to feel, to do.

Gavin leaned in close, pupils so wide they nearly took over his iris, only a ring of hazel remaining around the outside, put his lips right next to Ray’s ear and whispered, ‘It’s amazing. I can feel everything.’

And Ray was sold. He knew what it was like, had a complex, dark history with it himself, one buried behind more drugs and everything but alcohol at this point. But seeing Gavin’s unstoppable energy and excitement made him itch, a familiar desire rising in him, and before he knew it he nodded.

Gavin started bouncing with excitement and reapproached the group around the table, wrapping a twitching arm around the shoulders of a random man who just grinned back at him, constricted pupils only an indication leading toward the heroin needle he had in his arm. Ray watched, hiding his shock as Gavin didn't even ask, just moved back to where he'd been before.

His line was gone, someone else revelling in it, so he snapped his head around to look at Ray. Ray didn't even hesitate, allowing himself to not bother with worrying about the negative consequences for the first time in a while. Without any more reservations, he grabbed a card from his wallet and dragged some of the coke into a line, doing the same for Gavin, and for the life of him looking like he did it every day.

‘You’re up,' he directed at Gavin, who immediately kneeled down and cocked an eyebrow at Ray in unspoken challenge, his inexperience outweighed by his enthusiasm.

‘Well you’re on,’ Gavin shot back, and they simultaneously leaned down, fingers blocking their spare airways and lining up respectively. Gavin thumped the table as the signal to go and they did, following the line of coke as they inhaled it.

Ray finished first, an inherent, ridiculous pride glowing within him that his years of experience where worth something. That thought dissipated almost immediately, and he burst into laughter watching Gavin poke the side of his nose that would undoubtedly be numb.

Coke hurt like a bitch to snort, but it could absolutely be worth it. 

A flash of red caught his attention, and Ray zeroed in on the small trickle of blood running from Gavin's nostril. He got up and was at his side immediately, tilting Gavin's head back and examining him, but there wasn't anything he could do. It was small and thin, not anything too dangerous, and when he was satisfied his super sidekick was okay he grinned, wrapping an arm around Gavin’s shoulders before leaning back and waiting for the coke to hit.

The colours in the room swirled intoxicatingly brightly as he followed Gavin into the high, and he stared at the party lights in the background for several seconds. They were beautiful, warping and dancing and leaving trails in the air that he felt himself smiling at. Gavin was at his side, warm -- more than warm, hot, but Ray didn't mind -- but he wasn't looking at the lights, he was looking at the table, where nearly a quarter of his line was left. 

And when he looked back to Ray, he grinned, jerking forward to free himself from Ray's arm anchoring down his shoulders, but he felt he couldn't. 

'Not a chance,' Ray murmured, before he could panic, and he raised an eyebrow towards the blood still smeared faintly on Gavin's face. Instead, Ray wet his finger and dipped it expertly into the line, getting all of it on his nerve tingling finger before he raised it and held it in front of Gavin’s mouth.

Distracted from the bright and overwhelming world in front of him, Gavin focused on the finger, grinning. He opened his mouth and Ray popped it in, allowing him to run his tongue over the digit and get the last of the coke. When Ray's finger was clean he pulled it out with an obscene  _pop_ , wiping it carelessly on his shirt and laughing when Gavin pulled a disgusted face at the taste.

He longed to further his own high, get to the point he knew he could reach but wasn't at yet, and he glanced at the pile on the table. As if on cue, shouting filled the back room, and when they jerked their heads up they were met with the start of a fight a table over.

The decision hit, hard and fast, and inside his racing brain he distantly realise that this could get them in a  _lot_ of trouble. But by then he was already facing down towards to pile of coke on the table, too close to back out, so he shut his eyes tight and pressed his nose in deep and  _inhaled._

This time, it hit him immediately, and the world spun sickeningly as he quickly shot to his feet. For several seconds he was blind, unable to ground himself against the sudden change in direction, but Gavin had clearly gotten the idea and was on his feet next to him. He didn't look Ray's way when his hand anchored himself in his shirt, instead leading as they rocketed away from the table.

They burst out of the door and ducked into the thick crowd of the club, and when they finally stopped, feeling their hearts beating hard in their chests, Gavin burst out laughing at the white powder dusting Ray’s nose. When he looked away, it remained imprinted on his brain, and he only distantly realised that it _wasn't actually_ snowing coke.

The further into the crowd they got, the hotter it was. They were bumped roughly by someone, and Gavin nearly shoved them back, but cold fingers gripping hard to his arm led him away, into the centre of the crowd.

The flashing disco light was nearly overwhelming, and neither of the two could force themselves to look away. With every flash they were more enraptured, the lights stimulating their flickering eyes but simultaneously burning through their bodies, the cocaine strengthening the connection between sight and feel in a delicious manner that had the both of them intoxicated.

Neither Ray nor Gavin spared a thought to how they must look, gripping hard to each other, swaying a little, just staring unblinkingly at the light as it flashed and danced and burned into their vision. Neither of them knew how long they were there, but it was a while, because soon the light, coupled with the deafening music and never ending touches of random strangers had Gavin panting, overstimulated and entire body screaming for escape. Ray saw the panic start to arise, felt it in the tightening grip on his arm, and he was quick to smooth a hand through Gavin’s hair and tug him to where he vaguely thought the exit was.

After a few moments he found it and pushed it open, and they stumbled out, and as soon as they were free they were far from ready to stop, the sudden lack of stimulation begging to be compensated for,the coke coursing through their system demanding they move, move movemove and move  _now._

So they did, Gavin grabbing Ray’s arm again and tugging him through the streets. They stared up at the blinding streetlights as they moved, and pushed close to each other, both trembling as hard as the other at the rush of coke and freezing air that they never really felt.

At one point Ray stumbled and had to move faster to catch up, his feet simultaneously numb and tingling. He passed Gavin, his pace quickening by some unknown command, and soon they were both running, tearing their way past blurry faces and through unknown streets.

When they eventually careened to a stop, it was at a park that neither of them recognised.

Gavin was still rearing up and down on the balls of his feet, arms moving, twitching, body trying to move even as his oxygen starved lungs begged for a break. Ray was looking everywhere at once, eyes darting from shadow to shadow as the need to see everything encompassed him. They were still clutching tight to each other as they moved closer to the park, and a motion sensor light from the nearby toilet sent them both into a startle.

The startle led into another laughing fit, the sound of laughter echoing around them and in their minds, the sensation of it buzzing throughout their entire bodies and the feeling was amazing, as amazing as every other thing they’d felt that night.

The light itself flicked off again, and Gavin moved immediately to relight it.

‘Look at it, Ray, it’s like we’re looking up into our deaths.’

Ray did, and he knew exactly what he meant. ‘The light at the end of the tunnel,' he agreed, and they both stared up into it, uncaring to the possible damage it could cause to their overexposed pupils.

Moments later Gavin’s mind was racing again, attention everywhere and anywhere and demanding constant stimulation. He turned to Ray, a smile playing on his lips.

‘Hey, X-Ray.’ 

‘Vav,’ Ray murmured, and tore his gaze from the light above them.

‘We--’ Gavin started, eyes staring unblinkingly into Ray’s. ‘We, you and I, love: are standing in the middle of a park, staring at a light for god knows what time tonight, high on bloody cocaine.’

They stared at each other a moment longer before bursting out into laughter. At some point after, Ray tugged him away from the light, his hand hot against Gavin’s. He climbed onto the equipment, Gavin following suit, and then they were sitting next to each other staring out at the stars.

The initial buzz was fading, the running only making it recede from their system faster, and since neither of them had any more the best they could do was enjoy it while it lasted.

‘Cocaine’s fun,’ Gavin murmured, minutes later, leaning into Ray.

‘Mmm. Short lived, though.’

‘This is real nice, Ray,’ Gavin said, and Ray agreed again, this time by settling down closer to the other man and smiling when he felt him twitch. Ray was undoubtedly coming down, but it wasn’t too harsh all things considered. It was certainly easy enough to call a comedown rather than a crash.

But damn, the coke was fading fucking fast.

Gavin, who was crashing, was certainly inclined to agree. He was feeling it hard, having been so high and so strung out that now he found himself with nearly no energy and feeling wiped. He could feel the tiredness seeping into his body and he leaned completely against Ray, feeling the last of the coke high recede.

The heat in his body was near overwhelming, his skin prickling and sweat glistening, so he leaned forward and tugged his shirt off before leaning back against him. The fabric of Ray’s shirt now felt rough and itchy against Gavin’s own bare skin, so with a whine and a tug he had Ray pulling his shirt over his own head. They leaned against the cover of equipment again, boiling where their bodies touched and freezing everywhere else.

Gavin’s twitching didn’t stop for a while, and Ray drew patterns into the back of his hand and wondered what tomorrow would bring as they both succumbed to sleep.

(When they woke up the next morning, wrapped around each other with coke residue on both their faces and with a hell of a walk home, they just smiled at each other and wondered if they’d ever do it again sometime.)

* * *

 

The next drug they tried was ecstasy, and again, it was all Gavin’s fault.

That was something Ray would attest to, because he hadn’t even  _been there_ that time- Gavin had actively sought him out.

The way he understood it, Gavin had been enjoying the night out with Barbara, Michael and a few others, and ended up disappearing into the crowd with a couple fit birds and none of the clubbing crew had seen him the rest of the night. 

What Ray assumed (and he’d never asked, just like Gavin had never asked how or why Ray had enough pot to supply a small high school hidden away in his apartment) was that the girls he’d been with had a hookup, and obviously had enough to supply Gavin with a handful of pills no questions asked.

He’d downed one there and then, Ray assumed, and had either been left behind or left the group of his own accord in favour of finding people he cared about. What Gavin had told him was that he’d searched for Michael first, wanting some love from his favourite Jersey boy to help him spike his high.

The best he’d gotten was a few fleeting touches, light presses of lips and hands that made him yearn for more, but all Michael did was smirk at him and move away, telling him to ‘go get himself laid, the horny bastard’.

So alone and wanting some affection badly, Gavin had stumbled out of the club and found his way to Ray’s apartment.

This is where Ray comes in, though his own recollection of the night was its own degree of fuzzy. But he clearly remembered the Brit banging away at Ray’s door, humming a song and calling his name repeatedly.

It couldn’t have taken more than a minute for Ray to open the door up, but when he did it was to a dreamy looking Gavin, swaying on the spot. Ray didn’t look straight at him, instead still fumbling with the door and opening it wide enough to allow Gavin to push past him, hand dragging along his chest.

‘Hello to you too, asshole,’ Ray said, closing the door and following him into the living room. Particularly uncaring of his friend’s presence, used to his invasive antics, he simply flopped himself onto the couch and resumed his game.

‘Ray,’ Gavin said, and Ray hummed back questioningly.

Unhappy with the response, Gavin repeated his name, this time in a sing song voice. ‘Can I ask you something?’ he asked, staring at Ray with a small smile gracing his features.

Instead of pointing out that he just did, Ray paused the game and turned to face him for the first time. He froze. 

After several seconds of watching Ray's eyes running over him, Gavin spread his arms wide, a lazy smile on his face. 

‘Oh,’ Ray said simply, and Gavin just smiled again.

He dug into his pockets, movements slow and unsteady, and pulled out a few pills, sitting them calmly in his slightly shaking hand. Ray studied them for a moment, taking in the small butterfly imprint, the rough edges, and he flicked his eyes up to Gavin’s curiously.

‘Ecstasy,’ Gavin informed him, as if Ray didn't know.

His eyes were on the pills, but he glanced up again when Gavin sidled closer until he was in front of Ray, eyes half lidded as his gaze swept over him.

Ray simply raised an eyebrow. In turn, Gavin raised his hand, moving so one pill was between his thumb and forefinger and the others were trapped safely in his hand. He held it in front of Ray’s face, eyes questioning, and in response Ray parted his lips slightly, allowing Gavin to press the pill in.

Gavin turned to get the can of cola sitting on the table, give him something to swallow it down with, but when he turned back Ray was watching him with a cocky smirk on his face, mouth undoubtedly empty.

‘You swallow, then?’ Gavin joked, lazily. His fingers were running over the fabric of Ray’s shirt, revelling in the sensation the soft touch gave him.

‘What can I say, useful habit to have,’ Ray returned, and sat back against the foot of the couch to wait for the effects to kick in. ‘How long did it take for you to start feeling it?’

Gavin hummed, sinking into the couch with a moan. ‘Not sure. Maybe an hour?’

Ray just nodded, starting up his game again. ‘Ray,' Gavin whined, softly, tugging at his shirt to get his attention. But soon the insistence of the tugs faded and turned into gentle pulls, which turned into him just running his hand along the blade of Ray’s shoulder, just touching, feeling.

He started humming, and while it was slightly distracting to Ray’s gameplay he didn’t complain. It was nice, just to sit here like this and let the time waste away, and he’d almost forgotten the pill he’d popped when the feeling of Gavin’s hand running along his shoulder started to pull his attention.

He leaned into it, and soon the simple sensation had him nearly hypnotised. Gavin’s other hand wound itself into his hair, tugging lightly, and Ray couldn’t help the moan that escaped him. His eyes slipped closed and he sunk against the couch, letting the sensations Gavin was causing to wash over him and light his whole body up in waves of ecstasy.

Soon, the movements stopped, and Ray opened his eyes and groaned in discontent. But the hand that had been tugging his hair soon slid slowly to his shoulders and tugged him up, and Ray followed the hint, standing slowly. He waited a moment to steady as the room swayed pleasantly around him, feeling the air he’d displaced slide smoothly over his skin.

Gavin gave another tug, this time at his belt loop, and Ray allowed himself to be pulled down onto the couch.

‘I can get behind this,' he murmured feeling the words slip past his lips before he’d really realised he’d spoken. Gavin opened his eyes and looked up at him, all lazy smiles and inviting lips, and Ray barely resisted the urge to lean in and wipe that smug smile right off his face.

Instead, he lay down beside him, moving in close and wrapping one heavy arm around Gavin's chest. He felt his cool breath blowing across his face, and his hand snake around and sit comfortably on his waist, the sensation sending tingles through his body. The room was still swirling pleasantly around him, and every touch sent small shocks to his core, every nerve ending strung high and buzzing pleasantly.

Ray raised a hand and stroked it along the side of Gavin’s face, and the other man nearly purred. His eyes fluttered shut and his whole body tensed, arching towards Ray’s body, seeking pleasure and touch and any stimulation. Ray shifted closer and Gavin moved to accommodate him, lifting a leg so Ray could fit his inbetween.

When Ray immediately did, Gavin smiled at the smaller boy, running his hand over his chest and brushing his fingertips over his face. The smallest of touches felt incredible, making his chest flutter and tighten, relax and stiffen, making his whole body demand stimulation because stimulation meant pleasure, everything meant pleasure, and they wanted nothing more than to lay pressed against each other, just touching and feeling and watching the beauty in front of them and all around them because nothing could feel nicer in the world at that moment.

After what felt like an eternity, Gavin shifted through the dreamy haze in his mind and decided he wanted to voice that thought. He opened his eyes as he opened his mouth, but he felt another smile dance across his features as he looked down at the man lying against him. As if he knew he was being watched, Ray opened his eyes and blinked slowly up at him.

His irises were nothing but a tiny ring of brown against the black, pupils blown, and Gavin knew he must look the same way.

They smiled at each other, and Gavin didn’t even think much about it when he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Ray’s lips. Warm skin met warm skin, soft lips against soft lips, and warmth spread from the point of contact down their throats, the burning trail urging them to continue.

And continue they did, small moans escaping as they began moving their bodies against each other, exploring and revelling in every burning touch. Ray moaned into his mouth as the hardness in his pants brushed against Gavin’s, all the heat in his body rushing to his groin. Gavin swallowed the moan and repeated the movement, tugging Ray closer by the hand in his belt loop.

They ground against each other, pausing to gasp for breath after a few minutes. The temperature in the room felt like it had risen exponentially, so it seemed only natural that they tug their shirts off. The jeans stayed on, because before they resumed their make out session Gavin pulled out the remaining two pills and looked at Ray with a twinkle in his eyes.

‘Might as well, eh? Dunno bout you, but mine’s fadin’, and I’d love a bit of a boost.’

Ray just kissed him again, hard, and Gavin barely noticed the pill missing in his hand after he let him go.

‘You sneaky bugger,' he murmured, staring at the lone pill in his hand.

Ray just smirked. He downed the pill, the rush that filled him when he tilted his head back making him dizzy with pleasure, and followed it with a gulp of coke as Gavin did the same. When he put the glass down and wiped his mouth he glanced up at Ray from beneath too long eyelashes, asking, ‘Too good for swallowing dry this time?’

Ray didn’t deign to reply to him, just leaning back slowly, relaxing into the cushion and feeling a wave of pleasure at the feeling of the fabric against his back. Gavin raised an eyebrow and looked him over, the glistening sweat sheen on his chest looking attractive rather than cliché.

‘You gunna take up the whole couch?’ he murmured, voice soft and tickling his own throat.

He received a slow, lazy nod. ‘That’s the plan.’

‘Guess I’m gunna have to get on top,’ Gavin replied, running a hand through Ray’s hair and following through.

Ray just closed his eyes and leaned up into him, aching for more contact, more touch, more feeling, just  _more._  Gavin was more than happy to oblige, nearly missing the whispered, ‘That’s the plan, too.’

They lost themselves in the simple sensations that washed over them, in the whispers and touches, in the ecstasy, the beautiful drug that ran through their system and turned their whole world into a blur of colours, sensation and lust. They lost themselves in the soft kisses and hurried touches, in the rubbing and grinding, in the ecstasy, the beautiful sensation of feeling a body touch and react and know they were feeling the same experience you were.

The rush from both the high and their lust for each other didn’t fade for a long time, and they spent many hours just feeling and  _touching_  each other; rubbing, scraping, stroking, scratching, tugging, pulling and kissing, mixed with the sights and  _sounds;_ blurs, colours, twists, shapes, sighs, moans, breathy gasps and whimpers of each other’s names leaving the night one long, beautiful blur of sensations that they couldn’t entirely remember but never really forgot.

(When they woke up the next morning, hickeys all over their necks and a butterfly imprint identical to the pill signs scratched into the table, they just giggled at each other and asked if they’d ever do it again sometime.)

* * *

 

The last drug they’d tried was marijuana, and it should go without saying by now that it was all Gavin’s idea. But this time, Ray was a lot less innocent than he had been previously.

‘You know, despite the face you make the most four-twenty jokes out of anyone I’ve ever bloody met, I can’t say I really expected this from you,’ Gavin stated, eyes dancing over Ray’s delicate fingers as they rolled together a decidedly good looking joint.

‘Yolo,’ Ray replied casually, and the irony in his town went amiss on Gavin.

Before he could ask anything else, Ray decided he was content with his work, and he passed it over to Gavin who sat it next to the other completed two on the table.

‘I mean, Jesus, I ask you to come get stoned with me and you pull out over an ounce worth of weed,’ Gavin said, still staring at the closet where the supply had disappeared into. Ray shrugged and laughed, another muted ‘Yolo’ escaping his lips as he raised the joint, lit it, and took a deep drag.

When he’d finished and held it in a good ten seconds he turned his head to the side and blew it out in a long, thick stream. Gavin just looked at it before plucking the joint from Ray’s fingers.

‘I can’t wait to see this,’ Ray laughed, watching intently as Gavin raised the joint.

‘Don’t bloody watch!’ he spluttered defensively, pressing it to his lips even as he said so. He took a drag, a surprisingly impressive one, and held it for a few seconds before blowing it out in a rush.

Ray raised an eyebrow and pulled a face, saying ‘Well what do you know, you can hold your pot.’

Gavin pulled a face back, ignoring the burn and tickle of his throat, and Ray hesitated, eyeing him.

 'But if you need to cough on a drag, try and breathe as much as you can out first – makes it hurt less.’

Gavin nodded his assent and had another quick pull before handing it back over to Ray, who set it in his mouth and took another drag as he set about setting up a bong. ‘This should be easier, even if you did well with that, but soon the burn will probably start messing with your throat and lungs so then at least this’ll be easier.’ 

Gavin just watched as his deft fingers packed the cone piece, adding just the right amount, and he began to second guess everything he knew about the young Puerto Rican. ‘Tell me they don’t teach you that in grade school,’ he murmured, and Ray stopped, looking up at him in surprise before laughing.

‘God, no. Acquired skill.’ 

‘Acquired skill,’ Gavin repeated, taking the joint out of Ray’s mouth and taking another hit, this one more successful than the last. Ray hummed and raised the bong, inspecting the water level, and when he was satisfied he put it down next to the other rolled joint and sat back to watch Gavin.

When all the joints were finished (with a fair bit of Ray being impressed; Gavin seemed hard set on getting as high as possible without fucking up and he damn well succeeded), Ray picked the bong up in a tingling, unsteady hand and waved it questioningly.

Gavin squinted and looked at him, gaze travelling along the length of Ray’s arm before it landed on the water pipe. Immediately, he made grabby hands, and Ray swallowed down a laugh as he handed it over.

'I’m gunna light the cone, and you breathe in almost as much as you can, okay? Then when you’re done take your finger off the hole and suck the rest of the smoke up. Easy peasy.’

Gavin didn’t seem to take in any of what he’d just said, but Ray let him have it anyway, watching his clumsy movements as he held it in his slightly shaking hands.

‘Ready?’ Ray asked, and Gavin nodded seriously. He could barely contain his laughter ashe watched Gavin close his eyes, raise it up and nearly drop it immediately. He decided to pipe up, letting his words drawl out slowly and with great effort. ‘You gotta, you gotta hold on to it, man,' he said, in a poor stereotypical stoner impersonation, then spread his pinky and his thumb from the rest of his closed fist and pretended to light up a bong and take a hit.

Gavin snorted out his laugh. 'Bloody mister expert over here, dropping wild advice. Can you spare a few moments of your time to teach me that I'm meant to breathe in with my mouth, too?'

It was Ray's turn to laugh, and he dropped the completely stoned act to relax back into his seat.

Gavin looked his own degree of proud, smiling affectionately at absolutely nothing as his success ran through his muted brain.

‘Why do you look proud?’ Ray dug an elbow into his side gently. 'I'm the teacher here.'

‘Collateral proud.’ Gavin informed him. ‘Splash damage. Duh.’

Ray just sniffed at him and held the lighter up to the cone, and a few seconds later Gavin remembered what he was meant to be doing, and a few more seconds and heactually remembered how to do it. When Gavin had successfully smoked the cone, Ray gave him a pat on the back.

‘You can put that on your resume,' he told him, and Gavin pretended to look excited at the prospect.

When he dropped the act, or forgot that he was meant to be doing it, it was to look at Ray with a whine. 

'This isn't as fun as I'd expected,' he admitted, and Ray groaned.

'Well when you start with cocaine, it's a bit hard to match up. And consider this: pot is a depressant, idiot, not an upper. And ecstasy's... well, it's ecstasy. Hard to compare. And I'm sure tat whatever expectations you had, they were ridiculous, considering your maladjusted and dumb view of the world.' 

Gavin opened his mouth to respond, considered his answer, then settled for 'You're a right asshole when you want to be, Ray.'

They met gazes and snorted out a laugh, and it was back to business.

Ray returned to packing the cone, not so swiftly as he had previously, to Gavin's delight. When he decided he wanted a turn at packing, he was shut down almost immediately, because Ray knew he’d waste more than he packed. So Gavin looked as dejected as possible as Ray obliviously finished packing it, humming to himself and ignoring Gavin's melodramatic complaints.

It was for the best, because if he'd brought it up they wouldn't have stopped talking about it. But as it was, as soon as Ray had taken the hit, Gavin had forgotten about it, eyes focused on the way Ray’s mouth closed over the mouth piece and his smooth fingers gripped the body. He was horny as hell but far too high to do much about it, so he settled for watching, half zoned out, as Ray finished the cone in only another pull.

Another cone packed, another lesson on how to smoke it, and Gavin had a lungful of marijuana smoke and looked as happy as could be.

'I take it back. You're a right _not_ wanker, Ray,' he decided.

'I. Uh, thank you. I mean, you called me an asshole before, but I guess I should still say thanks.'

'You're damn right, you should. God, I'm a bloody dying man in a desert. Can I have some water?'

Ray looked genuinely concerned, peering at him with a frown. ‘Are you serious?’ he asked, when Gavin just waited expectantly.

Gavin stared at him. 'Yes?'

Slowly, Ray shook his head. 'You don't drink that, Gavin,' he said, like Gavin was an idiot child trying to shove a square through a triangle. 

He said it so seriously that Gavin accepted the answer, mulling it over as he chewed on his lip. They sat in silence for a little while, quiet apart from the occasional puff of smoke, and the silence remained unbroken until Gavin spoke up again.

'What do you mean, you don't bloody drink water?' he demanded, sitting upright suddenly. He took a few moments to orient himself, but as soon as he did he spun to face Ray, who had sunken down into the couch, and he jabbed a tingling finger at him accusingly.

Ray blinked at him. 'What?'

'You'd die, you idiot! Of course you need water!' Several seconds passed while Gavin continued to stare at Ray in confusion, annoyance furrowing the crease between his brow, before Ray suddenly burst out into loud laughter. 

'You meant fuckin' regular water,' he finally said, genuine tears of amusement pooling at the corner of his eyes. He clutched at his stomach, folding himself over, and Gavin didn't have the energy to do anything other than stare at him. 

'I thought you meant bong water,' Ray gasped out, entire frame shaking with laughter. 'I thought you asked for the bong water.'

Gavin perked up. 'There's water in that?'

' _Of course there fucking is,_ ' Ray spluttered, drawing in breaths in between gasps of laughter. 'But you don't drink it, it's fucking disgusting. Here, get up, I'll get you some proper water. Oh my god.'

He caught Gavin's longing gaze towards the pot on the table, and he hesitated, hands still under him from where he'd prepared to roll himself off the couch.

'nother one first, maybe?' Gavin tried.

'Only if you get it.'

'You're closer.'

After nearly half a minute of watching Ray stretch his arm out towards the bag sitting on the table, Gavin sighed.

'Never mind,' he said, but no annoyance tinged his tone.

He stood, picking his way delicately past the bong on the floor, and shoved Ray's legs aside so he could collapse on the couch next to him.

'This is nice,' he sighed, and Ray murmured a noise of contentment. 

'Except for one thing.'

Gavin cracked an eye open. 'What?'

'You forgot to grab the goddamn bong.'

And so, water forgotten about for the time being while they consumed copious amounts of pot, their adventure continued onwards through nearly all the food in Ray’s apartment and well into some terribly played video games. They ended up back where they started, smoking a few more joints and falling asleep on the floor, tangled up in one another.

(When they woke up the next morning, shirtless, with kiss swollen lips and the smell of marijuana riding in the air, they just kissed each other and promised to do it again sometime, but with one unspoken question on both their lips: Why does it always end up like this?) 


End file.
